Campaigns are tough!

[PatG]

What time period, opponents and points levels?
If you don't like facing crunchies, are you setting the AI to tank heavy?
Scout vehicles - pay attention to the AI's deploy lines. You can put the pedal to the metal to a point but once you get close to the deploy lines, slow right down and start getting sneaky. Reconnaissance by (enemy) fire is a legit tactic - just don't put the recce boys in your core.

[vyrago]

Mostly post-cold war time frame. One recent campaign I generated was Ukraine vs Russia. AI tank heavy ON. I still find the enemy buys maybe a platoon or two of tanks, then about a company of foot infantry. takes forever to clean them out, usually the scenario ends before i've finished and I end up with a draw each time.

I'm going to experiment with the "Infantry Toughness" settings, cuz I feel that infantry is a bit too resiliant.

Good point about the recce. I had them in my core, cuz I felt I would need them alot. But they usually take a few shots from enemy tanks, without having spotted a whole lot.

whats a safe movement speed to reduce being detected? 2 or 3 hexes?

[Mobhack]

Of COURSE the AI buys infantry, since it will not have the points left over to buy any MBT. AI tank heavy just means it will buy more tanks if it has the buy points to do so and in the buy loop point when it can buy armour, and infantry generally by the platoon, where it would normally buy a company. It does not mean "only buy tanks". So, in the later years, you will only get huge fleets of clockwork mice when the AI have huge buy points levels.

Recce vehicles don't spot things by simply charging round the battlefield. The faster you move, the easier you are seen after all. Only use speed where you are in known defilade - e.g. behind a hill or wood. Stop for a move before popping ONE hex to the wood front or onto the hill top to look. Then pop back in cover - esp if you received fire. Remember that a vehicle with infantry on board spots better than a "bare" armoured car - esp against infantry. A BRDM plus mounted scouts is better than one without. And even better - dismount your scouts in the previous example, and let them move to the edge of the cover to makee-looksee.

If you expect your infantry to receive fire - then try to keep movement to 1 or 2 hexes, max. That includes any mounted movement - a scout team that dismounts from a BRDM having zoomed up a road for 22 hexes and is in LOS of an ambusher is in a very bad situation!. If you need to zoom mech inf, then remain halted in a dismount position out of enemy LOS, and dismount next turn from the halted vehicles if at all possible. Charge-and-dismount will only work on a completely neutralised enemy.

Infantry are not hard to deal with, in any case. Invest in a few mortars in your core at the very least, and an FOO to call in quicker fires. Invest in a platoon of BMP or BTR infantry per tank company, and follow the tanks with these to spot grunts a little better. When spotted, shell with HE, call in arty, don't close till they are properly hammered by HE fires. I like the 1950's Russians with open-topped APC with a 12.7 and 2x7.62 MG - good "hose down" units, even accepting the fact they are vulnerable to arty.

And remember to call in arty on spots you are going to pass through later, that may contain enemy infantry. A common "newbie" error (apart from not buying arty) is, if they have it, of simply waiting till they have a spotted target to engage. Use arty like DDT to de-louse potential routes of advance by firing speculative fires. Often, that means you will have arty plotted nearby that you can adjust onto any spotted targets with minimal delay even if your normal arty delay is long, when you make contact.

Cheers
Andy

[vyrago]

some excellent tips mobhack! I cant wait to try them out. One problem I find is when im picking my artillery 'hot spots', i'll see an area which looks like a good spot for the enemy to set up. I'll hammer the area, only to find the enemy has chosen a much more 'stupid' deployment. thats why I tend to overcompensate with scouts, since it seems theres a time limit to most missions and you cant spend all day blasting up treelines which may or may not contain sought-after baddies.

I realize that the AI will buy infantry when it cant afford any more tanks. I just would like to see more realistic formations. 2 platoons of T-80 would not likely be deployed with a company of dismounted paratroopers, for example.

its just frustrating to march across the map, smashing through enemy armor only to get held up fighting a few rpg teams which maybe get lucky on a few tanks/apcs, leaving me with a draw despite my holding the objective flags.

[Mobhack]

The victory hexes are not the only thing WRT victory, they merely provide some bonus points on top of points garnered in smashing the enemy force, except for small battles. They also provide the AI with something to navigate to.

If you are battling with the AI around V-hexes, then these will be counted as "contested", and so the game may last longer. Ditto, if you are finding yourself camped out on the objectives fighting off the AI around them, then that is where your artillery pre-planned fires may be handy?.

Also - remember that you can shift fire with little delay, once arty fire has fallen. (Many newbies seem to plot a brand new mission, even simply to fire in the same area). Click on the fire unit's name bar, and then just press the HE button for fire at 0.1 or so delay, or the shift target key to adjust from the last target hex. For a "creeping barrage" - just keep shifting the fires turn by turn.

If you think you will need more time - then use the turn count adjustment available from the View Map button in the deployment screen. Ditto if you don't like the V-hex deployment or map or visibility etc.

Cheers
Andy

Cheers
Andy